


The Way of the Mirror of Love and the Parting at Dawn

by angharad_governal



Category: Haken No Hinkaku, The Pride of the Temp
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-27
Updated: 2008-06-27
Packaged: 2018-03-13 23:35:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3400403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angharad_governal/pseuds/angharad_governal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Change is inevitable. Kensuke contemplates his "understanding" with Souji.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way of the Mirror of Love and the Parting at Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> for more on "Pride of the Temp" : http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Haken_no_Hinkaku  
> https://www.d-addicts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44405

The Way of the Mirror of Love and the Parting at Dawn  
angharad governal

 

He used to mind it: after a night of sex, Shouji would leave. No matter how late it got, the other man insisted that he return to his own place. Because his friend always left him to face the rest of the night alone, despite the hours they spent in each other’s arms sharing an intimacy, a closeness like nothing Kensuke’s ever experienced in his life, he felt that, for Shouji, it was _just sex_. It was just something to distract the mind, something to do to decompress from the work day and nothing more.

“I don’t want to be an inconvenience to you, Ken-chan,” Shouji would say as he gathered his things and looked back at Kensuke as the other man lay naked on the bed they had shared hours earlier.

Kensuke would lean against his side, his head propped up on his hand as he watched Shouji’s eyes wander down his body and focus on the slow rise of his growing erection. “Shouji-san,” he would say softly, although in his mind it would be, ‘Take-san’ or even, ‘Takeshi’. For whatever reason, he could never get Shouji’s first name past his own lips. It felt disingenuous and wrong no matter how intimate they were. He would tilt his head to the side and smile just so. Shouji would bluster a little, but would quickly drop the pretense of buttoning his shirt and end up back in Kensuke’s bed.

The inevitable would follow.

In the morning, however, Kensuke Satonaka would wake up alone. When he reached the main offices of S & F the next day, he would greet Shouji as if the intimacies of the night before had never existed. Whatever you did after office hours was fine, but to bring it to work, to have it disrupt ‘the family’ was taboo. Their friendship was obvious to all their co-workers and there was nothing else between them, save that friendship. Whatever else they shared was for each other and for each other, alone. He had that understanding with Shouji and he could live with it.

At least he thought he could. He didn’t want to believe what he saw– Shouji kissing Oomae-san at the bus stop – still couldn’t believe that Shouji, himself, took it so seriously when Kensuke had confronted him about it. “I’ll support you if you’re serious about this,” he said to Shouji. And he meant it. All he ever wanted was to make Shouji happy and if it meant losing... no, if it meant Shouji would marry Haruko Oomae, then, he, Kensuke Satonaka, would see it through as any best friend would.

\--

Later, he realized he didn’t feel angry toward Oomae-san. He admired her too much – her tenacity and skill, her determination to live as she wished no matter what the cost – it was something he had always wanted for himself, but knew, although it would be a freedom he had longed for, it would come at much too high a price. (And his own sense of pride and happiness was tied to the company. He joined S & F so he could make food that would bring happiness to those who ate them, after all.)

It also helped that Oomae, herself, seemed completely indifferent and visibly displeased at the very thought that Shouji might harbor any feelings for her other than reluctant admiration and deep-seated irritation. Shouji, of course, despite his declarations and assurances that he was, in fact, in love with the Amazing (and Irritating) Super Temp, Haruko Oomae, did absolutely nothing to pursue her, save for giving her his personal cell number.

It helped, too, that more likely than not, he and Shouji ended the usual work day with an embrace or, on a rare event, a kiss that would eventually lead into a night in Kensuke’s bed.

\--

Kensuke sat up and wrapped his hands around Shouji’s hips when the other man straddled his waist. He ran his palms up Shouji’s sides, savoring the quick, surprised gasp from the man above him as he rolled Shouji’s small nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. He sat up more fully from the bed and did a quick sweep of his tongue against the flat, slightly muscled frame of Shouji’s chest, nipping gently with his teeth against one nipple and then another. The pleasure this act produced was evident as Kensuke slowly trailed his hand down Shouji’s abdomen and toward the other man’s now fully erect cock. His fingers encircled Shouji’s penis, stroking it up and down, finally cupping the scrotum with an almost reverent tenderness. He nipped and kissed at Shouji’s collar bone and shoulders, his knuckles brushing pubic hair as he continued to stroke him with slow deliberation. A brief smile appeared on his lips as the other man shuddered against him with obvious delight.

“Ken-chan...”

There was an urgency to Shouji’s voice and Kensuke found himself being shoved down on the bed, Shouji kissing him hard and fast, an eager tongue making a quick sweep along his lips before invading his mouth. He whimpered into the other man’s mouth as the sensation of Shouji covering his body from head to toe assailed his senses. As Shouji began to rotate his hips against Kensuke’s own, a moan erupted from his lips at the feel of their cocks rubbing together.

Kensuke grabbed at Shouji’s torso and moved to cup the man’s buttocks, one finger circling Shouji’s anus, an action that made the other man groan loudly and shift up and forward, opening himself further to Kensuke’s touch. Shouji found his mouth once more and they kissed deeply as Kensuke reached between them to take hold of the other man’s cock. Shouji growled and leaned back up onto his knees, his body both tensing and relaxing as Kensuke sped the movement of his hand to a faster tempo. He caressed Shouji’s thigh and groin with his other hand, his fingers lingering and combing through the rough, curly nest of the other man’s pubic hair. Haruko Oomae’s voice suddenly came unbidden into his mind, the mocking, amused tone echoing in his brain as he remembered her taunting Shouji with the nickname, ‘Curly-curl perm’. Kensuke’s eyes traveled up Shouji’s body, past his face --the other man’s eyes were closed in ecstatic pleasure -- and up toward his dark head. Kensuke grinned – the hair on Shouji’s groin was even curlier than the hair on top of his head. To cover up the laugh about to burst from his lips, Kensuke leaned forward and pressed a kiss in the juncture between Shouji’s thigh and groin, his body shaking a little as he tried to suppress the sudden fit of laughter. The move surprised the other man so much that Shouji stopped grinding himself into Kensuke’s fist.

“Ken-chan, what --”

Kensuke never gave the other man the chance to ask what was happening. He turned his head and licked the side of Shouji’s penis, held the shaft up and began to lick its’ underside. Shouji mewled as Kensuke mouthed his balls and groaned loudly as Kensuke took Shouji’s dick into his mouth. As Shouji began to pump himself fervently into his mouth, Kensuke’s eyes closed as he savored the experience and committed it, like every intimate moment he had shared with this man, into his memory.

\--

The feel of his fist slamming into Shouji’s face was more satisfying than he ever dreamed possible. Every frustration, every single thing he ever wanted to say, everything he ever felt about their “understanding” ran through his mind as Shouji taunted him. When the other man pointedly asked him if he was in love with Haruko Oomae, he realized that Shouji understood nothing about him and probably never would.

“So what if I am? I -- I love... her,” he lied. He sneered as he said it. He should have felt bitter and angry; instead, he felt an almost strange, euphoric joy.

The other man’s fist connected with his jaw; he smiled and goaded Shouji on to hit him even harder. As the fight between them escalated and they collided with the desk and other furniture in the dark and empty offices of S & F, he knew things would never be the same between them again.

He took a deep breath and reeled back to punch the other man as hard as he could when Shouji lunged at him once more.

\--

The fight changed everything and nothing.

At the office, they were still friends, colleagues -- supporting each other as best friends should -- even as Shouji was transferred to a subdivision of the company far from the main branch in Tokyo.Their “understanding”, however, ended the night they beat each other up to the point where both men collapsed onto the pristine, carpeted floor of the company they loved and knew they would spend the rest of their working lives serving.

It was over.

As the dawn of a new day broke and Kensuke Satonaka reached the offices of the main branch of S & F, he knew, at last, of the endless possibilities that lay before him.

The way was open and he was finally free to choose it.

 

end.


End file.
